Wire-covering machine



March 16 1926. 1,576,578

W. E. COOK WIRE COVERING MACJHINE Filed Dec. 13. 1918 I udder-21;:

' speeds.

Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES .PA 'TENT OFFICE.

wr'rmra a seen, on NEW YORK, N. Y., Assrenon, y MEsNE' ssremvmms, TO THE PEERLESS INSULATED WIRE AND CABLE COMPANY, OF NEWYOR-K, N. A con- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

WIRE-COVERING MACHINE.

Application filed December 13-, 1918. Serial No. 266,565.

To all whon'zit may concern Be it known that I, VVILLTABI E. Coon, a

Covering lifachines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to wire covering machines, and more particularly to a machine adapted to apply an insulating base composed of cotton sliver, or other similar absorbent material, to a conductor wire. v

\Vifth machines of the character to which my invention relates, great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in applying adhesive to the conductor wire for the purpose of securing the desired bond between the sliver and the wire, particularly when it is desired to operate the machine at high Ordinarily it has been the practice to pass the-wire through a bath of the adhesive, but at the higher speeds, there is a tendency of the wire to pick up an excess quantity of the adhesive, thus causing to be present on the wire, at the point of application of the sliver, in sufficient volume to prevent that partial setting of the adhesive necessary to make it sufliciently tacky to adhere to the fibers of the siiver, the fluid condi tion of the adhesive at this point resulting not only in a failure of the sliver to properly bond to the wire, but in the absorption by the sliver of a sufficient quantity of the adhzsire to prevent the subsequent thorough saturation or impregnation of the sliver with asphaltum, or other composition, for weather-proofing and increasing the insulating properties thereof. n

My present invention isadapted to permit the utilization of a coldadhes-ive in a ma chine of this character, the stru'ctare being such as to ensure a continuous" feed of adhesiv-e in; relation to, and its appl cat on to, the wire, in sufficiently small volume to en? sure the presence o-fonly a thin fil-ni of'adh'esive thereupon; T-he flow of. the adhesive with relationthe Wi e; is: aiutonr really;

controlled in a manner to ensure substantial uniformity in thevolume thereof applied to the wire. n'iechanism is so constructed as to permit the interruption of the flow ofadhesive therefrom, when the machine is stopped.

I also incorporate in a machine made in tttiCOl'ClflllCG with my invention, an automatic stop mechanism, operative when the supply of sliver in the barrels is exhausted, thus preventing over-running of the machine undcr these conditions.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction and combination of parts, hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a front view of a machine embodying my invention, said view being partly in elevation and partly in section.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, 1 indicates the side frames of themachine, said frames being connected adjacent the bottom and the top thereof with crossframes Qand 3.

Rotatably mounted within the side frames of the machine, and above the cross frame 2, is a rotating platform 4; adapted to receive one, o'r a plurality of barrels 5. havingcoiled therein the cotton sliver, or other absorbent material with which the wire is to be covered.

The platform 4 is provided with ahollow arbor 6 mounted ina suitable bearing in the cross frame 2. Supported from the platform by means of suitable. standards 7 is a.

. at aais magenta-11am from, the bar.-

die 10. 'The top frame 8, also carries a preliminary die 11 Mounted upon a shaft 12, above the top a wire red sheave is;

The adhesive feeding rave indicated the conductor wire at 1 said wire passing about the guide pulley adjacent the bottom of the machine, for securing the desired alinement thereof with the arbors 6 and 9, and the dies 10 and 11. p The strip of sliver for covering the wire is indicated at 16.

Adjacent the die. 10, the arbor 9 has loosely mounted thereon a rotating table 1.7 having a plurality of spindles 18 thereon, adapted to receive spools of binding strands or threads. This table receives rotary .i lovement from the arbor 9 through the gear train 19, the first of which gears is carried by said arbor, and the last of which gears is :arried by said table, the intermediate gears be'ng mounted upon the cross 'rame 3. The layout of this gear train may be such as to rotate the table in the same direction as, or in an opposite direction to, the direction ot rotation of the arbor 9, and at the same, or a greater or less speed, according to the direction and the angle of inclination at which it is desired to apply the binding strands or threads to the covered wire. The table 1? arries a flange-deplete 20 having eyes therein through which the st ands or threads pass from the spool to their point of application to the sliver-covered wire, an ordinary tension device, as 2i, being disposed between said plate and the spindles 18.

To ensure the application of said. strands or threads to the covered wire, before the sliver has had an opportunity to expand after leaving the die 10, I form the outlet end of said die as a truncated cone, the top which is brought down to a narrow edge.

To prevent the topplingof the barrels o as a result of the action of centrifugal force thereon, I provide summrtin52, st 'aps adapted to engage said barrels toward the top thereof. said straps being carried by the standards 7. 7

After leaving the sheave 3, the covered and bound wire is wound upon a reel, not shown, the laying of succeeding convolutions of the wire upon said reel being controlled by an ordinary traverse device indicated at, 23.

Power tor actuating the various mechanisins of the machine, is derived from the main shaft 24;. said shaft having spliued thereon the first gear, :25, of a gear train 26, the last gear of which 'ai'ried by the arbor 3. Said shaft, 2:3. also connected by the reducing chain ant. sprocket mechanism 27, with the shaft 12, and power is trans mitted from said sha t- 12 by means of a In the accompanying drawines .l' pulley 2S thereon, to a pulley 29 carried by a shaft carrying a gear Elflconnccted by means of the chain and sprocket mechanism 31 with the traverse nechan' m and through the gear 32 with the shaft 33 upon which the rewind reel is mounted. l

The shaft 12st has loosely mounted thereon a pulley 34, which adapted to be connected to said shaft by means of the clutch To control the application of power to the shaft 24. through the clutch 35, I provide means whereby said shaft may receive axial movement, as the hand lever 36. I also utilize this hand love for applying brakes to the pla"forn'i 4, so as to check rotation of said platform suljastantially siimiltaneously with th disconnection of the clutch 35. This brake mechanism comprises the slides 37, oppositely mounted with relation to said platform, one end of each of said slides bcing provided with suitable 0 Take shoes adapted to engage the edge of said platform, and a lever acting: upon each of said being connected by the rod 38, provided with a turnbuckle 39, for adjusting the position of these slides with relation to said plattorm. One of the slides 37 is connected by the link mechanism 4:0 to the hand lever 36, so that the movement of said lever 36 to release the clutch, will set said brakes, and the movement of said lever in the opposite direction, to set said clutch, will release said brakes.

The mechanisms heretofore described relate to a high speed cove 'ing n'iachine invented by me, but it is not my intention in the present application to claim same specitically.

(Ether cluiracteristics of the machine to which I will now refer, have particular application to a high speed machine of this type, however, and the foregoing description is entered into, and the showing of such a ,n'iachine is made in the drawings, in order tl at there may be a clear understanding of the invention.

.llefore the wire ll reaches the point of application of the sliver, or other materal, thereto, it is essential that the wire be c nited with adhesive, to facilitate the application of the sliver, or other material. thereto, and form a permanent bond between the same and the wire. When a. machine operated at high speed, i the wire he passed through a bath of the adhesive, even thongih the adhesive be cold, there will be a tondency of the wire to accun'inlate the adhe ive in a quantity in excess of that required. so that when the wire reaches the point of application of the sliver. 0' other material, thereto, the adhesive will remain upon same in sutiicient volume, and be suliiciently fluid to not onlyprevent the proper bonding of the sliver,-or other mater al, tlereto, but to cau"e said sliver. which highly ahsorher to absorb a sut'iicient quz-intitv oi" the a l hcsive to prevent the nfoper sa ur on er impregnation of the sliver, or other material,

-with the asphaltum or athe: composition with, which it is subsequently treated. 'lo

avoid this condition, I )rovide means whel be regulated by by a thin, substantially uni'fornnfilm of ad hesive will be applied entirely about the wire, while it is passing through the ma chine, the wire not being in contact wltlr a sufiicient volume of adhesive to permit of 1ts accumulation thereon in a quantity in encess or that required. In this-manner, although the rate ottravel of the wire be fairly rapid, the adhesive will have had opportunity to partially set, so that when it reaches the point of application ot the adhesive thereto, it will be merely tacky, and thus secure the desired bond, without a substantial or ma-, terial saturation or the sliver, or other mar terial, therewith.

In the form of the invention shown, I provide a tank 41 having a well surrounding a tubular portion 42, the opening in this tubular portion bein axially alined with the arbor 6, and having an inturned top with an opening therethrough, slightly greater than the diameter of the wire. The tank 41 is in connection tl'irough a. flexible tube 43, with a reservoir 44, the top of which has an opening th'erethrough, adapted to rceive the neck of a carboy 45 containing a quantity of the adhesive. The tank 41 is adjustable vertically by means of slides 46 carried thereby and mounted upon a vertical rod 47, said tank being capable of being fixed in any adjusted position, by means of thumb screws 48 carried by said slide.

The well in the tank 41 is filled with adhesive from the reservoir 44, and maintained at a constant level slightly above the inturncd top of the tubular portion 42. The depth of the adhesive above the tube 42 may adjusting the tank 41 upon the rod 47, or if desired by this aidju'stn'ient, the level or the adhesive may be broughtbelow the top of this tube, to stop the application of adhesivoto the wire 14.

To permit the automaticstoppage of the machine upon the exhaustion of the supply of sliver in any barrel 5 I provide an electrical make and break mechanism, fi'xed adjacent the bottom of the barrel, and includ-' ing'i therein a floating member adapted to be supported by the coil of sliver, so asto gradually descend in the barrel as the sliver is withdrann tl'ierefrom,becoming operative when substai'itially all of the sliver has been withdrawn This automatic stop mechanism, in the form of the invent-ion shown, comprises a W'i'hlglli) '48 connected by the pull cord or chain 49 p2 using over and about the pulleys 50'5 l, with the hand lever 36. This weight is normally held inits inoperative position by aflatch n'iech'anism 52 adapted tobe released by an electroniagnet 53. f

Carried by, and insulated from, the cross "frame 3, are two terminal rings'5455, one

oliwhich is electrically connected with said magnet and the other of which is electr cally of the tube.

connected with one terminal of any desired source or power, the other terminal of which is connected with the magnet 53. e The top frame 8 carries two brushes -37 cooperating with the rings 5'455 resi aectively. One of SzllClbl'LlSllBS 1s electrically connected with the metallic bottom 58 of each barrel 5, and the other brush is electrically connected by a wire 60 with a metallic ring 59 about'and within each barrel 5, the ring 59 being spaced away, and insulated, from the bottom 58. Loosely mounted within each barrel 5 is a floating metallic ring 61, having a contact roller or rollers 62 proje'ctingabovesame, so as to span the gap between the bottom 58 and ring 59 and thus close the circuit to the magnet 53 when the ring 61 reaches the bottom of the barrel. If desired, thebru'sh 57 may be electrically connected with the top frame 8, since the bottom of each barrel'rests upon the metallic platform 4, and the standards 7 will act'as conductors. This however, is merely a detail within the province of the ordinar skilled electrician.

T he operation of the herein described machine is substantially as :t'ollows:

When starting a machine, the wire 14 is threaded about the pulley 15, through the arbors 6 and 9 and dies 11 and 10, and about the sheave 13, and connected with the rewind mechanism, in the usual manner, the wire being passed through the tube 42 be: tween the pulley 15 and arbor 6. After the end of the wire has been passed through said tube 42, the tank 41 is lowered so that the top of the said tube willbe slightly below the'level of the adhesive in the reservoir 44, thus bringing the level. of the adhesive in the trough about said tube, above the top With the subsequent feeding movement of the wire, it will pass through a shallow bath of tlre'adhesive, and succeeding portions thereof will be SUCCOSSlVQlY brought into engagement with this small volume of adhesive, the adhesive being); applied to the outside of the wire while it travelling vertically at a fairly high speed. As a consequence, only a thin lih'n or the adhesive will be applied to the wire, since there will be an insutlicient interval during which the wire is in contact with the adhesive, for a portion of the adhesive to set, and thus accumulate upon the wire a substantial quantity of the adhesive suiiicic'nt to retard the subsequent setting of all of the adhesive carried by the wire, to a degree where it will the rapid before reach ng the point of app t at-tea of the sliver to the wire as to avoid the presence at this point of a sufficient volume of the adhesive to cause its absorption by the sliver to exhaust any substantial part of the absorption properties of the sliver, or prevent the desired partial set of the adhesive to impart to it the desired tackiness. If it be found that too much adhesive is being delivered, the tank ll may be raised slightly, thus decreasing the volume ofadhesive through which the wire must pass.

As adhesive is removed from the tank ll by the wire, the supply of such adhesive in said tank will be renewed from the reservoir slat, which in turn will receive adhesive from the carboy or other container -15, thus maintaining a constant level in said reservoir and said tank.

The means described for applying the adhesive to the wire is especially adapted for use with. a cold, fairly liquid, adhesive, and its use avoids the necessity for providing scrapers, or rubbers acting upon, the wire, to remove surplus adhesive therefrom. Such devices are highly und' able, as they rapidly foul and have a tendency to clean the wire. but if not used there is alwa s present the likelihood of too much adhesive, with its resultant effect upon the absorption properties of the sliver, and in the unifornr ity in the bond between the silver and the wire.

When starting the machine under power, the hand lever 36 is moved to the left, thus actuating the brake slides 37 to disengage their shoes from the platform l, and setting the clutch so as to apply power to the shaft 24. With the rotation of this shaft, the platform l is rapidly rotated through the gear train 26 including the gear 25, and the feed sheave 13 rotated so as to impart the desired lineal traverse to the wire 14:, through the mechanism 27. At the same time power is applied through the shaft 12 and the pulleys 28-29, gears 30 and 31,

and chain and sprocket mechanism 31, to the rewind shaft. 33, and the traverse mechanism respectively.

As the wire par es axially of the plat forum 4, the rotation of the said platform will result in the winding of the various sirands of sliver spirally about same, the rate of feed of the wire being synchronized with the speed of rotation of said platform so as to regulate the pitch of the sliver.

The sliver is applied to the wire, below the die 11, which with the travel of the covered wire therethrough gives an initial compaction to the sliver before it passes through the compacting die 10 and has the binding cords or strands from the spools upon the spindles 18 applied thereto.

The first layer of sliver applied to the wire, is substantially instantly bonded thereto, by its engagement with the tacky I of the wire.

adhesive upon the wire, thus being held firmly in position upon the wire during its compaction thereon. Succeeding layers of sliver are wound upon this inner layer.

When the supply of sliver in any barrel 5 becomes exhausted, it is necessary to immediately stop the machine, remove the barrel and replace it by another barrel containing a fresh supply of sliver. If this is not done there may be a considerable length of wire wherein the insulating material will be thinner than in properly covered portions Since one operator ordinarily has charge of a number of covering machines, there is always likelihood of the eX- haustion of the sliver going unnoticed, thus necessitating hand refinishing of this length of improperly covered wire. The automatic stop mechanisn'i above described avoids possibility of the machine continuing its covering operation slightly before the end of any strip of sliver reaches the wire.

As each barrel 5 is mounted upon the platform 4;, the operator will make the electrical connections necessary to include it in circuit with the magnet A ring 61 is then placed upon the coil of sliver, the end of the strip of sliver being passed through the ring. Thereafter as the sliver is withdrawn, the ring, which is rounded on the l')()tt'0il1 and hollowed to make it sul'liciently light, so as not to interfere with such with drawal, will descend in the barrel, until with the movement of the last coil of sliver, it will contact with the metal bottom 58 of the container, with one or more of the rollers 62 in electrical contact with the ring 59, thus closing the circuit to said magnet As said magnet is energized, it will rclease the latch mechanism 52, permitting the weight 48 to drop, thus through the pull cord moving the lever 36 to the left and disconnecting the clutch with the resultant stoppage of the machine.

A stop mechanism such as I have described, is particularly adapted to high speed machines, since the exhaustion of the sliver in any barrel cannot be readily detached by an operator, particularly if he has a number of'such machines under his control.

By using the carboy l5 for supplying the reservoir ll with the adhesive, 1 secure a hydrostatic device maintaining a constant level of the adhesive in said reservoir, and at the same time am enabled to determine when the supply of adhesive is becoming exhausted, which would result in a; less of the constant level, since said carboy serves as a sight gauge for this purpose.

it is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accon'ipanying drawings, it being apparent that such may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

loo

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is:

1. A wire covering machine embodying therein a rotatable horizontal platform adapted to receive a container or containers for cotton sliver, or other material, means feeding a wire axially of said platform, means applying adhesive to said wire before the sliver, or other material, is applied thereto, actuating means for said platform and said wire feeding means, and an automatic stop mechanism whereby said actuating means is made inoperative with the exhaustion of the sliver in any container, consisting of electrical contacts adjacent the bottom of the container or containers carried by said platform, a movable circuit closing device adapted to be sustained by the coil of sliver within a container and to descend therein as the sliver is withdrawn therefrom, said device being adapted to electrically connect said contacts when the supply of sliver is substantially exhausted, an clectroniagnet included in circuit with said contacts, and means controlled by said magnet and ope 'atively connected with said actuating means, whereby with the closing of said electrical circuit, said actuating means will be made inoperative.

2. A wire covering machine embodying therein a fixed frame, a horizontal platform structure rotatably mounted in said frame, a container having an electroeonductive bottom, and a ring of electroconchictive material adjacent, and insulated from, said bottom, a movable electroconductive ring adapted to be sustained by the coil of sliver within a container and to descend therein as the sliver is withdrawn therefrom, said ring being adapted to electrically connect said bottom and said ring when the sliver is substantially exhausted, an electromagnet included in circuit with said bottom and said means feeding a wire axially of said platform, means applying adhesive to said wire before the sliver, or other material, is applied thereto, actuating means for said platform and said wire, feeding means, and means controlled by said magnet, and operatively connected with said actuating means, whereby, with the closing of said circuit, said actuating means will be made inoperative.

A wire covering machine embodying therein a fixed frame, a horizontal platform structure, rotatably mounted in said frame, a container having an electroconductive bottom, and a ring of electrocondnctive material adjacent, and insulated from, said bot' tom, a movable electroconductive ring adapted to be sustained by the coil of sliver within a container and to descend therein as the sliver is withdrawn therefrom, said ring being adapted to electrically connect said bottom and said ring when the sliver is substantially exhausted, contact rings and (co-operating brushes carried by said frame and said platform structure respectively, and in electrical connection with the bottom of, and with the contact ring carried by, a container, respectively, an electromagnet included in circuit with said bottom and said ring, means feeding a wire axially of said platform, means applying adhesive to said wire before the sliver, or other material, is applied thereto, actuating-means for said platform and said wire, feeding means, and means controlled by said magnet, and operatively connected with said actuating means, whereby, with the closing lin of said circuit, said actuating means will be :made inoperative.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 26th day of November, 1918.

WILLIAM E. COOK. 

